Intentional Scars
by unique.normality
Summary: The Weasley siblings got inked together for Fred after the war. Now it's Harry's turn, years later, to go under the needle... but his motives are rather different. Inspired by all the punk marauder/trio content on tumblr.


Note: This is dedicated to all the people on tumblr that are making tattooed/punk marauders/trio. Keep it up.

The day after his daughter's first birthday, Harry walked through the front door of his home late in the evening. He slid off his coat, having ditched his robes much earlier in the day, very carefully. As he found a place for it on the coatrack near the door, he noticed a few out-of-place robes among the bunch, just as he heard more than the expected number of voices floating into the hallway from the kitchen. Not having anticipated visitors for dinner, Harry cautiously walked towards the kitchen as he heard his wife's familiar laugh.

"You should've seen the kid's face! The brat must've never seen a prank toy before, he looked so insulted when it punched him!"

Harry stepped into the room and blinked at the assembled group. George was obviously telling a shop-themed story to the rest, a usual crowd favorite. Harry had gone unnoticed so far, and he took the time to assess the situation. His mother-in-law was at the stove, but she seemed to, uncharacteristically, only be cooking one item. Ginny was sitting at their large table with Ron, Hermione, George, and Bill. His sons were on the floor, despite there being plenty of pieces of furniture on which for them to sit in the house, coloring. His eyes darted around, trying to find more children, but only saw his two eldest. It was when he looked back to them that he was noticed.

"Daddy!" James cried, jumping up to run to him. Albus took the time to enclose a drawing in his fist before following his brother.

"Hey, boys, did you have a good day?" Harry asked, scooping up Albus in his right arm but only using his left to ruffle James' mop of hair as the boy attached himself to his father's leg.

"I draw mummy," Albus announced, shoving a piece of parchment into Harry's face.

"It's lovely," Harry assessed, taking the picture and looking closer. In reality, it could've been any of the Weasleys with the sporadically drawn red scribbles of hair, but the stick figure wore Holyhead green. Looking up at the real image, he saw his wife walking over to him. As she kissed his cheek in greeting, much to James' disgust, he acknowledged the rest of the crowd.

"What are you all doing here?" he asked as Albus slithered down from his grasp, took his drawing, and joined James back in the corner (the novelty of their father's return having worn off quickly).

"You'd think we weren't welcome," George gasped, feigning hurt as Ron shook his head dismally.

"You'd think he'd have understood by now that once you marry one," he said gesturing to his sister, "you can't get rid of the rest."

Ginny rolled her eyes as she went back to sit with a knitting Hermione. "We have enough leftovers from Lily's party to feed an army. Or two Rons. So I invited a few of these buffoons to eat us out of house and home, as usual," Ginny teased, gesturing towards her brothers in a similar manner.

"And I assumed a vegetable might be needed, so I popped on over since Arthur is working late," Molly explained kindly with a smile from the stove. "I'm making those roasted root vegetables you like so much, Harry."

"That's great," Harry began before quickly glancing around the kitchen again. "Aren't we missing a few?"

"Lily and Hugo are upstairs asleep, they missed their nap," Hermione explained, reading the look on his face well as she set down her needles. "Rose is at my parent's. I'm sure you remember her talking your ear off about it yesterday. Teddy and Vic are upstairs in his room, Louis and Dominique are with Fleur at her sister's-"

"She's attempting to make Dom a birthday dress but the kid won't stop growing," Bill grumbled as he picked at the cheese plate in front of him.

"And I'm not sure where you left your children, George," Hermione said, raising an eyebrow.

"Beats me," George deadpanned before laughing at the look his mother threw him. "Naw, Angie's wanting to put them to bed earlier than normal and she says my bedtime stories last too long, and the munchkins won't listen to hers while I'm there. So I've been kicked out of my own home, can you believe it?"

"If only I could kick you out of mine," Ginny muttered before deftly catching the peanut he threw at her.

"It just feels off only having two kids within sight," Harry said, causing Ron to laugh.

Ron leaned back into his chair and said, "Two in the immediate vicinity is enough for me."

Harry, sliding into the chair closest to the door, reached up to push his glasses into place. "Well when one of mine could very well act up enough for two-"

"Is that a bandage?" Ron blurted, interrupting his friend to point at the inside of his upper left arm. "You didn't have that when you stopped by the shop this afternoon, mate."

"Did you have a half-day at work?" Ginny asked, twisting in her seat to look at him with a look mixed between suspicion and worry.

"Are you okay, dear?" Molly hurried over to his side, reaching for his arm as the whole room focused their attention onto Harry.

"Why would you have a muggle bandage on your arm; they wouldn't do that at Mungo's, would they?" Hermione questioned, a furrow in her brow.

Harry suddenly stood, just barely catching his chair before it could tumble to the ground. He quickly stepped back out of reach as he looked at the small group before him. Only James and Al were looking elsewhere, the rest were staring at him like he had just grown two heads.

"Harry?" Ginny asked slowly, worried by her husband's wide eyes and nervous manner.

"I uh... I was going to surprise Ginny with it first," Harry mumbled, his hand reaching up to run through his already messy hair. "I didn't realize you'd all be here..."

"What did you do?" Hermione asked, looking wary as she eyed Harry's arm. She then gasped as he grumbled and reached up to pull at one corner of the tape that held the white bandage to his tan skin. "Is it permanent?"

"It's a tattoo, of course it's permanent," Harry said sardonically. He let go of the bandage and dropped back into a chair, his cheeks reddening, as the group around him all exclaimed in different levels of surprise.

"Harry Potter, you did this without telling anyone?!"

"Mate, why didn't you take me with you?"

"Why didn't you tell your _wife_?!"

"I didn't think you had it in you, kid-"

"It's a muggle tattoo, isn't it?"

The table went silent as they looked from Hermione, who asked the question, back to Harry.

"The whole bl- darn world found out when you lot got yours," Harry grumbled, gesturing towards the redheads in front of him who, as it was well known, had all gone out together many years ago to get a magical tattoo in tribute to their lost brother. "I was going to try to keep it quiet."

"Let's see it, then," Bill demanded, curious as to what he could have gotten.

"Ah, I think I can guess what it is," Ginny said knowingly, leaning back into her chair as Harry started to peal the gauze off again.

"No- wait, let's see if we can guess. But wives can't play," George burst out, pointing a finger at Ginny who huffed.

"You can brag if you get it right," Ron said dismissively as he leaned forward to study his friend.

"A snitch," George cried, turning to Harry to see him roll his eyes.

"No."

"Ginny's face!"

At this suggestion, Harry started to laugh before his wife kicked him in the shin.

"A phoenix?" Bill suggested, but Harry shook his head.

"Ginny's name?" Hermione asked before pursing her lips at he shot that one down as well.

"I bet it's someone's name," Ron said, watching at Harry failed to shake his head. "I know you, you'd get a name. But who...?"

"Maybe your parents'?" Molly asked, surprising her kids by playing along. She calmed down a bit once she was reminded that all her children had gotten tattoos for Fred, albeit magical ones. She had been very touched at the thought, even though she had been angry when she had first found out.

The table was silent for a beat before Ron let his chair's front legs fall back onto the ground from where he had been leaning back. "Nope. I remember what you told me when we got our tattoos. You said you'd prefer to honor death with life."

"Which is what you said about naming your children," Hermione said slowly as comprehension dawned.

The family all nodded their heads as they murmured in affirmation. Harry smiled sheepishly as he shrugged his shoulders, not realizing it would be quite as obvious.

"That's what I thought," Ginny said smugly, leaning over to give Harry a peck. "Now you can show us. But we can maybe see if the rest of the family will be able to guess when we have dinner at the Burrow this weekend."

"As long as no one makes stupid guesses," Harry chuckled as he pushed his t-shirt sleeve up and carefully took the tape off his skin. "I really thought one of you might've guessed Moaning Myrtle's name or something."

Instead of any mocking quips, Harry was just met with silence as he tilted his arm so they could see it, where there was fresh, black ink that stood out against the paler inside of the arm.

"Is that-"

"The kids' initials in your handwriting," Harry finished, smiling softly at Ginny as he reached into his pocket to pull out a hand-written letter of Ginny's to set on the table.

While she had correctly guessed what the tattoo would be, seeing it was a bit different. Ginny blinked a few times before leaning forward again to kiss her husband, this time for a few moments longer than she normally would in front of her mother. The rest of the group allowed them a moment as they went back to cooking and snacking, all a little humbled by Harry's devotion to his children. But George broke the silence when he said wisely,

"I still think Ginny's face would've been better. She could keep you from doing anything bad by glaring at you from your arm."

"I'll suggest that to Angelina," Ginny shot back, giving her brother a snarky look.

"So why'd you get it, Harry?" Bill asked, stopping George from making another comment. "And so out of the blue, too."

"There are times when I have to go on missions and can't even wear my ring," Harry shrugged. "I might have to cover it up with a glamour spell or two, but it's still something I can look at to remind me of home, no matter where I am. And I just thought now would be a good time, since Lils is officially a year old."

"I think that's lovely," Molly sniffed from the stove, causing her kids to exchange looks. They knew she may have been peeved by Harry's secrecy, but she was a big softy for any sort of sentiment.

"Come on, all this food needs eating and you can't do that when you're busy gawking at Harry," Ginny announced, flicking her wand to float the party leftovers to the table and to magically put away her boys' mess so they would come sit at the table.

–

The clock was ticking close to midnight when Harry finally got around to going to bed after finishing up a report that would guarantee him the next day free to spend with the kids. Ginny had already gone to bed after feeding Lily one last time, and the rest of their dinner guests were long gone. He had kept his sleeve down over most of his tattoo when Teddy and Victoire had graced them with their presence once dinner began, not wanting to show it to the kids quite yet, especially since Ginny and George wanted to surprise the rest of the clan later on.

Harry closed the door of his study and began to make his nightly routine trip around the house, something he had began right after the war. He checked all the rooms downstairs, and all the surrounding wards, before making his way upstairs. James and Al were both in their respective rooms, asleep, and Lily as out like a light. His last stop, as always when the boy was over, was Teddy's room, which was across from his study. Peaking in, Harry saw the hallway light land on not a head of blue hair, which was typical for Teddy as he slept, but the dark green of the Quidditch posters that adorned his godson's wall.

"Ted, you still awake?" Harry whispered, stepping inside the room and trying not to jump to any conclusions (like nightmares, fevers, or bad guys, instead of an eleven-year-old staying up to read comics).

Harry didn't get a response for a moment before the mass of blankets before him began to move. Harry walked into the room and settled on the chair beside the bed as Teddy sat up, obviously still alert and not having gone to sleep yet.

"Was waiting for you," Teddy said around a yawn that he tried hard to hide, at which Harry smirked.

"I thought my nightly rounds went unnoticed," Harry observed as he rested his shin on his other knee.

Teddy rolled his eyes, looking just like Ginny as he did. "Everyone knows you do that, Harry," he informed his godfather.

"Oh, really?" Harry chuckled, raising his eyebrows. "Tell me what else everyone knows."

"_Some _people know that you got a tattoo," Teddy countered, looking pleased with himself at his answer as Harry blinked in surprise.

"How did you know that?"

"I overheard Grandma Molly say something to Bill right before they Flooed home," Teddy shrugged.

"You overheard them, or you were eavesdropping again?" Harry asked, giving Teddy a dry look.

Teddy adopted a look of false innocence before he grinned. "Okay, fine, but don't change the subject. I wanna see it! I was thinking about it and I wanna know if I can maybe copy it. None of my Metamorphmagus books talk about tattoos any- I wanna try it out!"

Harry sighed as he sat up, letting both feet touch the ground again. "Fine, fine. Just don't tell anyone. I'm going to try and keep it from the press for as long as I can-"

"- which means there'll be five articles about it tomorrow."

"- and don't go giving your gran a heart attack by morphing tattoos all over yourself, okay?"

"Yes, sir," Teddy said dutifully, using his finger to draw an X over his heart. "I solemnly swear."

"Cheeky," Harry muttered, reaching over to pinch the boy's side, causing him to squeak and jump away. Not many knew Teddy was ticklish, so, naturally, all those that went in and out of the Burrow were aware, and used it against him.

"Grandma Molly mentioned kids' names," Teddy yelped, diverting his godfather's attention from his sensitive side back to the tattoo. "You didn't get _all _the names, did you? Every single cousin? Because that's just taking this whole family thing a bit too far."

Harry snorted, shaking his head as he wrinkled his nose. "Merlin forbid, I don't have enough skin for all that," he joked. "I just got mine, and you know it."

"Prove it," Teddy mocked, leaning forward to turn on his lamp, which caused them to both squint at the sudden light.

"Fine," Harry sighed before shifting into the light and pushing his shirt sleeve up again.

Teddy stared as it was revealed to him. There on his godfather's arm were four sets of initials in what looked like Ginny's distinct lettering: _E. R._, _J. S._, _A. S._, and _L. L._

"Oh," Teddy murmured, blinking again at the dark, freshly engraved letters. He sat back and just looked at Harry, speechless for the first time in his life.

"I considered doing 'T' for Teddy, but I thought I'd go for the proper names since I added the middle initial," Harry explained with a shrug but stopped speaking as Teddy continued to blink at him. "Ted?"

"Yeah?"

Harry leaned forward, slightly worried at his soft murmur. "Are you surprised at something?" he asked after a moment. "I thought you already knew what it was before you saw it."

Teddy's grey eyes shifted back to the tattoo that he could now only see part of. "I... I just expected three..."

"Three names?" Harry asked, looking genuinely confused before he nodded in comprehension. "Ah. Well. I know Lily is rather new, but I think she still counts, yeah?"

It took Teddy a moment to realize he was being mocked but, once he realized, he snorted in laughter. "You know what I mean," he mumbled.

"I'm afraid I do. But of course I'd get four, silly," Harry said, giving Teddy a fatherly smile. "Four kids, four sets of initials."

"What happens if you have another?" Teddy asked.

"Then I'd just have to call it Edwin Romulus to save myself some pain," Harry said with a straight face as Teddy stuck his tongue out at him. "Now, it's time for bed, Edward. You can practice your tattoo artist skills in the morning. Better get ready to put a Hungarian Horntail on your chest so we can scare Ginny. No- a pygmy puff. Ron'll love that. And don't tell Ginny about our new kid, she thinks we're done."


End file.
